We are still teaching a lot those families from Ecuador. It has been
a real challenge this week as we are trying to get them to accept
baptism but they are wanting to wait so that they can do it in Ecuador
where they can be with family. We are making some real progress with
them and they are about to give up on the whole Ecuador thing I think.
It is funny how easily people put more importance on things that dont
really matter but come on the side of things that are actually the
main reason that we do that thing. Baptism in so many cultures is
more about the party and the gathering for the parents and family then
it is for the person that is actually getting baptized and making
sacred covenants with God.
One little thing that I thought was super awesome was when we got to
go to the house of an american family on our division with the
Assistentes this week to eat lunch and they had lemon bars for the
dessert. I could not believe it. Of all the times to be eating with
an american family out here in the mission and without any request or
any previous knowledge they made lemon bars. I was super happy and I
told them the irony of the situation and then they gave me a bunch of
them so this year I got some lemon bars basically on my birthday just
like always!
Well on my actual birthday we had ward council after church which took
for ever, but then when we came out and the members had put a little
birthday party together for me which was pretty cool. The sad part
was that they sisters were supposed to have a baptism today which fell
through right at the last minute, but the members turned it into a
quick little birthday party for me. We had a ton of sugar today
because of the rest of the visits that we did as well it was a lot in
all but a fun day. We also had some really fun lessons for the first
time with some people one is this guy named Alves that is here from
Angola to study civil engineering. He seems like a totally typical
african guy but in our visit we got him to really recognize how
important it is to him to be able to know which is the correct church
and be able to come closer unto Christ. It is really cool to see how
so many people that you would initially judge to not have any interest
in these things show that in reality it is something that is really
important to them. It is such a special experience to get to feel
that special spirit that is encouraging them to keep listening and to
accept the invitations to change and become better.
Tivemos muito crescimento em nossa area e em nossa zona com novos
amigos. É mesmo o passo para frente que estávamos a precisar neste
momento para começar a ver sucesso. Estamos muito feliz com o esforço
dos missionários e acreditamos que estamos a progredir. Tivemos uma
divisão com os assistentes este semana e aprendi que realmente O
Senhor guia-nos para onde temos que ir sempre e que quando chegamos
la, temos que passar pela prova primeiramente antes que possamos
receber a benção que Ele enviou-nos para buscar. Vou continuar a
procurar para saber porque estou onde estou em todos os momentos para
que posso achar todos os eleitos que o Senhor tem preparado para nos.
Estou a trabalhar bastante agora para aprender como pronunciar a som
dum "R" em portuguese corretamente e estou a ver muito progresso
graças a ajuda e paciência de Elder Reni e outros. Estamos a procurar
a arrepender-nos e mudar para frente em todas as coisas diariamente.
This week I have been working really hard on my accent. I have always
had a really hard time with the R's in portuguese because it requires
that you can roll them and that is something that even with hours and
hours and months and months of practice I have never been able to
master. But I have seen some really significant growth on my accent
over the past week. I am being really brutal on myself and it is
leaving me really tired and I am a lot slower to speak and feel more
like a newer missionary again because I am basically learning to speak
again but this time I am taking out all of my american accent. It is
cool to see some progress on this finally because I have been trying
to be able to make that sound properly for most of my mission.
I have been studying a lot in the new testament right now because I
want to be able to finish with it all before the end of the mission.
I have been learning a lot from Paul. I find it interesting how he
always was teaching the same principles to answer a large variety of
questions. He was always teaching a lot of the same things it was
just that because of the needs of his current audience he took that
same information and changed it around so that he touched on the
things that they truly needed and got across the message that he knew
that they needed as well.. There is a lot that we can learn from the
ancient prophets and I am really enjoying the studies that I am
getting to do on the bible right now. I know that it really will help
me work with all of these people out here and make me a more
effective tool in the hand of the Lord.
I hope you all are taking advantage of every precious moment that we
have do to what we need to in this life. There is a time for
everything and now is the time to grow and get better and get ready
for eternal life!
Love
Elder Hobson
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